NSSA suspends time restriction for claiming grants

National pension scheme contributors or their dependants who failed to claim a retirement, invalidity or survivor's grant within the statutory limit of five years from becoming eligible for it are being given a fresh opportunity to claim the grant next year.

Public Service, Labour and Social Services Minister Nicholas Goche has, by means of Statutory Instrument 144 of 2013, published on October 4, suspended for the whole of next year the statutory time limit for claiming national pension scheme grants.

Contributors or their surviving dependants who claimed a retirement, invalidity or survivor's grant but had their claim rejected on the grounds that they had submitted it too late, can next year re-submit their claim.

Likewise, those who did not submit a claim because they realised the statutory five year limit for claims had passed can now next year submit their claim.

The claim must, however, be lodged or resubmitted within the period for which the statutory time limit has been suspended, which begins on January 1, 2014 and ends on December 31, 2014. After that, a claim that is submitted five years or more after a contributor's retirement, invalidity or death will not be approved.

Retirement grants and survivor's grants are payable by the National Social Security Authority to contributors to the National Pension and Other Benefits Scheme or, in the case of their death, their surviving spouse and children or other dependants, where contributions have been made for 12 months or more but for less than the 120 months necessary to qualify for a pension.

The survivor's grant is also payable to the surviving spouse, children or other dependants of a former contributor who had already attained retirement age at the time of death.

Invalidity grants are payable to contributors below the age of 60 medically certified as permanently incapable of work due to physical or mental ill-health who have contributed to the scheme for at least six months but for less than the minimum 12 months required to qualify for an invalidity pension.

However, all of these grants must normally be claimed within five years of a contributor's retirement at the prescribed retirement age, invalidity or death. This restriction is being suspended only for next year to allow those whose claims were rejected or never submitted due to this time limit to lodge or resubmit their claims.

National Social Security Authority general manager James Matiza explained that it had been decided to provide those who had failed to lodge claims within the statutory five year period with this window of opportunity due to the large number of people who seem to have been unaware of this limitation.

"Although one would have expected people to claim their retirement, invalidity or survivor's benefit soon after becoming eligible for it and although five years would seem more than sufficient time within which to lodge a claim, we have found that there are many people who were unaware of this time limit for lodging claims and who have sought to lodge claims outside it," Mr Matiza said.

"In the case of survivor's benefits, many people were unaware that they could claim a survivor's benefit and have only recently become aware that they could have done so, with the publicity we have been giving to the pension scheme benefits on radio and in the Press.

"Some of these are enquiring about claiming the benefit in respect of a contributor who passed away more than five years ago.

"We have decided, therefore, to give those who, in most cases through ignorance, have been unable to successfully lodge a claim due to the prescribed time period for claims of five years having been exceeded, a once only opportunity to lodge or resubmit their claims next year," he said.

He said the provision relating to the five year period for lodging claims, which will be suspended for the whole of 2014, only applied to grants, which are once-off lump sum payments.

The statutory period for claiming a pension is 12 months but there is already provision for the general manager to approve claims made outside that period, though such claims are only paid with effect from the date the claim was received by NSSA, he said.